David Bridie

David Ross Hope Bridie (born 1962) is an Australian contemporary musician and songwriter. He was a founding mainstay member of world music band Not Drowning, Waving which released six studio albums to critical acclaim. He also formed a chamber pop group, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, which released seven studio albums. During his solo career he has issued five studio albums and worked on soundtracks for Australian films and television like The Man Who Sued God, Remote Area Nurse, Secret City, and The Circuit. Bridie is the founder and artistic director of Wantok Musik Foundation; a not-for-profit music label that records, releases and promotes culturally infused music from indigenous Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. In 2019 he received the Don Banks Music Award.

Life and career Bridie grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Deepdene with three siblings.

AllMusic's Australian-based music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, observed that Bridie and Phillips' early work, "sparked the duo's enthusiasm for the sort of free-form ambient soundscapes that would become the basis of their sound as the group Not Drowning Waving and lay the seeds for their interest in film music." He is divorced. Bridie formerly resided in the inner north suburbs of Melbourne, living in Northcote until 2009 and Thornbury until 2020. That year, he moved to an off-grid property close to the Otway National Park on Victoria's Shipwreck Coast. Bridie was diagnosed with ADHD as a 10-year-old and has since had an adult diagnosis of Autism.

Bridie is a frequent traveller. His first trip overseas was to Papua New Guinea in 1986, encouraged to do so by filmmaker Mark Worth. He still makes extended trips to Rabaul, where his friendship with musician George Telek began and where his band recorded an album. He speaks Tok Pisin, and had gone through Tubuan initiation rites at the invitation of the community. This was documented in the 2023 film Abebe-Butterfly Song, directed by Rosie Jones, which included extensive archival footage of Bridie and Telek.

Discography

Studio albums +List of studio albums, with release date, label, selected chart positions and certifications shown Title Details Peak chart positions AUS Projects 1983–1993 (with John Phillips) Released: 1994 Label: White Records/Mushroom Records (D31140) Format: CD − Act of Free Choice Released: May 2000 Label: EMI Music (52671625) Format: CD, digital 37 Music to Tempted Released: 2002 Label: Spectra Formats: digital − It's been a while since our last correspondence Released: March 2023 Label: David Bridie Formats: digital and vinyl − On Karens Piano. Released May 2025.

Compilation albums

Title Album details Nautical Forlorn: A Selection for Film, Television, Festivals and CD Released: 2003 Label: The Blunt Label, Shock (20035) Format: CD, DD Take the Next Illusionary Exit Released: 2013 Label: Bridie (DB005-CD) Format: CD, DD

Soundtracks

Over the years, David Bridie has balanced his career as a live musician with the composition of soundtrack music, with credits for over 100 feature films including Proof, Bran Nue Dae, The Man Who Sued God and Gone, several of which received International release. He also received the ARIA Award for "Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album" for Nautical Forlorn in 2004.

David Bridie has also contributed to many television shows, short films and documentaries soundtracks most notably for Remote Area Nurse for which he won an AFI Award as well as The Straits, Dealine Gallipoli and Secret City.

The song "Pitjantjara" written and performed with Frank Yamma for The Alice was awarded an APRA Screen Music Award for "Best Original Song" composed for a 'Feature Film, Telemovie, TV Series or Mini-Series'.

Awards and nominations

Australian Antarctic Territory Fellowship, 2023.